Inside the June 2010 Issue

As the planet awaits this month's kickoff in South Africa, Annie Leibovitz trains her camera on the World Cup's hottest stars—from Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo to Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba—and A. A. Gill pays homage to “the Beautiful Game.” (Fie on those who call it “soccer.”)

Marcus Brauchli was named managing editor of The Wall Street Journal on the very day Rupert Murdoch made his bid for the paper's parent company. In an excerpt from her new book, former Journal reporter Sarah Ellison tells of Brauchli's bitter fight to keep Murdoch out of the newsroom.

Tiger Woods is competing again, but questions remain: What really happened that Thanksgiving night? And how deep did his betrayal go? With key sources, including three more of Woods's mistresses, Mark Seal plays the back nine of an in-depth investigation. Photographs by Mark Seliger.

Brian Williams and Todd Eberle spotlight Jonathan Tisch, a leader of the civic-minded New York dynasty, whose latest book is a wake-up call for Citizen You.

In the darkest days of the Great Depression, the Senate unleashed star prosecutor Ferdinand Pecora on J. P. Morgan and other Wall Street “banksters,” exposing their role in the collapse. Today, as Goldman Sachs counters charges of fraud and the G.O.P. fights reform, Alan Brinkley recalls that spectacular reckoning, and wonders where our Pecora is.

State dinners can be a vital diplomatic tool, but, as the Obamas learned when their first one was crashed, they can also make the wrong statement. Following the resignation of high-flying White House social secretary Desirée Rogers, Bob Colacello learns how power entertaining has changed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Norman Mailer may have been America's last larger-than-life writer, a juggernaut of ego, talent, and testosterone. Nearly three years after his death, James Wolcott parses a spate of bios and memoirs—including one by sixth wife Norris Church Mailer—that point to one fatal weakness, in both the man and his work.

Is it all just smoke monsters and mirrors? As Lost twists and winds to a finale, Jim Windolf finds the hit show's co-creator and producer focused on the only plotline that really matters. Mark Seliger photographs Matthew Fox, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, and their fellow castaways.

In an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, Christopher Hitchens recalls his first encounters with London's literary lights, his adventures with Martin Amis, and an oddly arousing chastisement from Margaret Thatcher.